The cash-strapped Pakistan Railways (PR) appears to be benefiting from its joint ventures with private companies: officials at the state-owned company admitted that the partnerships accounted for 26% of total passenger revenues for the railways, despite accounting for less than 1% of passenger traffic, during the first six months of financial year 2013.
Revenues for the Railways were up by 19.9% to Rs7.7 billion during the period between July 1 and December 20, 2012, compared to the same period in the previous year. Nearly 89% of that increase came from rising revenues in the passenger segment of the Railways, and nearly all of that increase came from the two public-private partnerships, where companies have leased out routes from Pakistan Railways. Passenger services account for nearly three-quarters of all Railways revenue.
In February 2012, Pakistan Railways signed an agreement to allow the Four Brothers Group, a diversified conglomerate, to run the Business Express, a refurbished train to that travels between Karachi and Lahore. The Railways gets Rs3.1 million per day for the service as a flat fee for the use of its stations and tracks. In March, a similar agreement privatised the newly revitalised Shalimar Express, operated by Air Rail Services, which provides the Railways with Rs1.5 million in lease revenues per day.
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